Harry here. Although Uber’s Instant Pay and Lyft’s Express Pay options have been hugely popular with drivers, there are some scams and fraud issues drivers should be aware of. Today, senior RSG contributor Christian Perea details what’s happening and how to avoid it.

A new scam has been circling throughout the driver community over the last few months, and I want to warn you about it. It involves scammers attempting to gain access to drivers’ accounts on Uber and Lyft, switching out their payment information with their own, and then cashing out drivers earnings via Instant Pay or Express Pay into the scammer’s account.

The phishing attempt almost always involves a fake passenger request or someone posing as a Uber/Lyft employee to gain the driver’s trust. The result is that the scammer effectively steals the driver’s pay by “Express Paying” their own account, leaving the driver with no money for the week.

WARNING: NEVER provide your personal information over the phone to anybody who calls YOU.

We first heard about the scam with Lyft Express Pay around last September in Los Angeles. Since then, the scam has been slowly spreading through different locations, has begun to target Uber drivers through Instant Pay, and has increased in its frequency and sophistication.

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Harry here. Tipping seems to be one of the top complaints for Uber drivers lately, but it doesn’t seem like Uber will be adding a tip option to the app any time soon. Today, RSG contributor Jon Knope shares the results from his recent testing of tip boxes, signs and jars. It turns out they work, but it definitely takes some practice and there are a few key takeaways from his experiment.

As we’re all painfully aware, there’s no in-app tipping option for Uber riders. But one way to warm your Uber passengers up to the idea of tipping is by having a tip jar or a tip sign in your car. We first tested this idea last year and since that article, MANY drivers have reported they’ve started using tip signs, boxes and jars and seen their tips go up as a result.

Today, there are lots of options for tipping accessories on the market specifically geared toward rideshare drivers. Recently, we at RSG received a few for free to test out and review. Here’s what we tried, and how each option performed on the road. Check out the video version below if you’re pressed for time!

Uber hasn’t officially cut rates this year, but they did increase their booking fee over the weekend. The increase amounts ranged from $0.20 to $0.35 depending on the city and, while the amounts seem nominal, it effectively means that Uber is now taking a larger commission from each ride.

Uber’s advertised commission for new drivers is 25%, but since they charge a fixed booking fee directly to the passenger on every ride, their effective commission is a lot higher. We crunched the numbers last year for an infographic and found the median ‘real commission’ over the course of 37 rides in San Francisco was 39.01%.

But now that there are higher booking fees, we re-calculated the numbers and found that Uber’s new effective commission went up to 40.44%. So Uber will be earning more in commission on every ride going forward, but drivers will get the same amount.

Harry here. Our 2017 survey found that drivers reported making over $15.68 an hour before expenses but is that the best way to think about earnings? Today, RSG contributor W. Curtis Preston explains how to calculate per mile earnings instead of per hour.

Many drivers look at their Uber or Lyft paychecks, subtract their gas costs, and say “nice!” Uber and Lyft likely rely on this perception, because if enough drivers knew their real per-hour and per-mile rate, they might choose to do something else.

Other drivers track their mileage, multiply those miles by 53.5 cents (2017 Federal Mileage Reimbursement rate), subtract that amount from their earnings and think “I’m making less than minimum wage!”

However, the best way to calculate what you’re actually paid is a lot simpler than you may think. What you need to do is calculate your actual cost per mile and deduct that from your Uber and Lyft pay, and I’ll show you how.

In San Diego, I make the equivalent to $17.77 per hour after expenses, which is a lot higher than the California minimum wage of $10.50. To make that outside of Uber & Lyft, I would need to get a “real job,” instead of just working when I feel like it. So I’m happy with my hourly rate. It covers the car and insurance payments, and all I’m really giving up is some evening TV time.

What I felt I needed to know, though, was whether or not the amount of profit I was receiving was worth all those miles I was putting on my car. Knowing my per-mile profit also allows me to make changes to my driving strategy and see if I can improve it. Let’s see how I figured all of this out.

About

I'm Harry, the owner and founder of The Rideshare Guy Blog and Podcast. I used to be a full-time engineer but now I'm a rideshare blogger! I write about my experience driving for Uber, Lyft, and other services and my goal is to help drivers earn more money by working smarter, not harder. Read More…

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